Bill Franklin. Dealing with Noah--Trayvon Martin was a child murdered while doing nothing wrong--would be murdering a bunch of innocent pixels to no purpose.
However, the point I was making was whether a Sbux employee has any special insights that would be of any use. Anyway, the point is that the member of the service economy is going to be talking while we're all waiting to get on with our days. That being a wash, why do I have to listen and the barista talk? Who said that was the correct design? Most of them are about one-third my age and haven't seen various things I have, which makes them vulnerable to the SJW's BS. Although, some snarker mentioned that degrees in gender and race studies are probably grossly overrepresented at Sbux. So maybe that's the go-to place.

I don't see what his nerdy past has to do with the perception of guilt vs. innocence To me its seems a mixture of hypocrisy (wanton spending and anti-gay party affiliation). How many people realize he graduated early or even had nerd bona fides. Besides, politicos of all stripes like wonky geeky types. How else do you explain Ryan and Warren

Even if If You're Reading This is a bunch of B-sides, which it probably is, it just shows how much Drake has improved over the last five years. I really do think it's his second-best release. I wasn't sold on the second half of the tape right away, but "6 Man," "You & the 6," "Used To," and "6PM in New York" have grown on me. The only tracks that are throw-aways are the interlude, "Jungle," and "Now and Forever," in my opinion. But we'll see how Views from the 6 is. I bet it'll be great.

With Drake I think there's a leftovers/get me outta Cash Money thing going on, BUT: as meticulously crafted as If You're Reading is, it was always meant to be a mixtape. Drake's just one of those artists who overthinks each release, in a good way. I feel like it's half amazing and half just okay, but it's cohesive and strong nonetheless. I hope you're right about this being an anti-radio, inward looking era of rap where every artist is chasing a distinct personal vision; that can only be a good thing for the genre right now.

I think declaring Betts will be an all-star within three years is a bit obvious. I'm betting he'll make the team this year. I'm looking forward to seeing how the A's play this year. I was confused when they signed Billy Butler and traded Donaldson, but in Beane we trust.

There's an interesting (and wholly welcome) trend in hip-hop right now, and it can be boiled down to Drake's famous (and frequent) declaration, "No new friends, no no no." We're seeing these huge rap stars, who previously made feature heavy albums, release work that's far more insular. If You're Reading This It's Too Late has two guest features, one of whom is a Drake signee. Additionally, Drake is in charge of essentially every hook. I wasn't wowed with If You're Reading This on first listen, but that was most likely because I assumed it was a tossed off project full of unused material from Views From The 6. I thought it was just a way to get out of his Cash Money deal. Really, though, it's his second best release, slotting in right after Take Care. Kendrick Lamar did essentially the same thing, except on a larger scale. The guest features were very, very deliberate. And now Earl releases this album. I also suspect A$AP Rocky's new album will follow this trend, as the only announced guest features are FKA Twigs, Lykke Li, and Clams Casino. Another appropriate Drake quote: "What am I doing/Oh yeah, that's right, I'm doing me." These rappers aren't pandering to the radio or their labels; they're doing what they want. The result? Three of the best albums of 2015.

People who claim to be triggered by the sight of a pudgy white guy sleepwalking in his jockeys, imo, fall into three groups.
One is the folks who really are traumatized. They need to be cloistered, since even worse traumas will assault them every day and there's no escape. I recall that the UConn husky representation is supposed to condone rape or something. Such special snowflakes shouldn't be allowed near a dog pound.
The second group is the one who thinks they're supposed to be triggered by this stuff, like all the Kewl Kids, so they try.
The third group knows better but they also know that "trigger" triggers the grownups to jump around like puppets, and that's just plain fun.

Excellent cover. I'd say that Barnes is even better live than he is in the studio. Some of his songs performed live, like Sunlandic Twins cut "Oslo in the Summertime", are so much better live. Looking forward to the new album/tour.